UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major-General Michael Beary today praised the leadership role of the Brazilian Navy in the UN peacekeeping mission’s Maritime Task Force (MTF).

While greeting the visiting Minister of Defense of the Federal Republic of Brazil, Raul Belens Jungmann Pinto, at the UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura, Major-General Beary acknowledged the major contribution of Brazil in fulfilling UNIFIL’s mandate to create a safer maritime environment in Lebanese territorial waters.

Brazil, which started to contribute to UNIFIL’s naval operation in 2011, currently has some 270 navy personnel with UNIFIL’s MTF. The Brazilian frigate “Liberal” is the UN mission’s flagship.

Minister Belens Julgmann Pinto, who is currently visiting Lebanon, also met with some of his country’s troops serving with UNIFIL.

During their meeting, the UNIFIL head also thanked the visiting minister for his country’s contribution in laying the foundation of a United Nations naval doctrine through its critical work at MTF.

UNIFIL MTF currently has more than 850 uniformed naval personnel and seven ships: two from Bangladesh and one each from Brazil, Germany, Greece, Indonesia and Turkey. There are two onboard helicopters.

In the last ten years of its existence, UNIFIL MTF has hailed more than 70,000 ships, of which more than 8,500 were referred to the Lebanese Navy for inspection.